St. John USVI Beginning Snorkelers

Recommended beaches for beginning snorkelers? Mom, Dad, and 10yr old. On cruise ship and will have about 4 to 5 hours total on St. John in January 2016. Taking Ferry from St. Thomas so will arrive at Cruz Bay. Maybe go to Trunk Bay Beach or Cinnamon Bay Beach?

We have our own masks, tubes, snorkel vests, and aquasocks and watershoes. Snorkeled one time before at Coki Beach St. Thomas and liked that we did not have to swim far out from the beach to snorkel. We are all average swimmers. Never used fins before... but might buy some for this trip. I'm sure it would make it easier to swim farther out and back to shore if the water is not calm.

Thanks for your advice.

ir Maho beach for beginners?

Trunk Bay has a snorkel trail with underwater markers that u might like. It's a fairly easy swim. Then if u want to explore more, u can expand your snorkeling further with more coral to the right.

It is a national park, and they charge like $4 pp entrance fee. I think it is $8pp taxi ride each way. We were just at Cinnamon last week, but the water clarity was poor due to windy conditions.

Kaneel Bay looks nice too. Closer taxi ride than other 2.

We had a port call in St. Thomas a few weeks ago, and did a snorkeling excursion to Trunk Bay on St. John. It was our first time there, and we were stunned by the beauty.

The snorkeling trail that BlueHonu mentions above is right off the beach and perfect for beginners. The fish, however, apparently did not get the memo to be there, as there were few of them. I've since read on another thread (in the Ports of Call forum, which you might want to search) that the trail is not the best snorkeling spot. Still, it was a beautiful beach, and a great place for your newbie snorkelers to get their feet wet, so to speak. :) There's a lifeguard, bathroom, showers, and changing facilities.

We enjoyed it very much. Have a great cruise!

(photo by turtles06)

Trunk Bay by far the best place to go.